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But it doesn’t stop there. The site now has practice math problems, which Khan explains is a critical development for students and teachers. “A significant piece of Khan Academy…is the interactive exercises that allow students to practice math and get feedback at their own pace, while giving teachers data on student progress,” Khan says. Khan’s goal is to make the site useful for all different types of classrooms, from homeschools to traditional schools. Teachers can “use their precious classroom time more effectively and flexibly” by allowing students to watch videos either at home or during class and ...

Defining Ideas If you were designing a K-12 education system from scratch, with no preconceived notions, and taking full account of the breathtaking technological innovations that have made possible a high-quality, highly personalized education for every child, what would that system look like? Chances are that it would look little like the hidebound, bureaucratic, expensive, top-down, one-size-fits-all, command-and-control, inefficient, reform-resistant, administratively bloated, special-interest manipulated, obsolete, impersonal bricks-and-mortar system that represents the most disastrous failure of central planning west of Communist China and south of the United States Postal Service. And yet, that is the system to which the vast majority ...

During the recent recession, the experience of Texas provides a marked contrast to that of Arizona. Arizona’s gross domestic product (GDP) fell at more than double the rate in the nation while Texas’s GDP barely fell at all. Texas’s employment in 2011 was at an all-time high and even greater than in 2007; by contrast, Arizona’s total employment in 2011 was 10 percent below its peak. Although most of the nation has seen hard times like Arizona has since 2007, Arizona’s economic challenges did not begin with the Great Recession. In fact, Arizona’s inflation-adjusted ...

Most people can think of a time when they have been having a conversation or visiting a new place and suddenly felt like they’ve been there before, doing exactly the same thing. This feeling of “déjà vu” is common: Nearly 2 out of every 3 people experience déjà vu at some point in their life. Déjà vu happens most frequently among people between 15 and 25 years of age. Or to anyone who pays taxes in Arizona. Twelve years ago, education associations told us we had to pay more taxes for schools, so Prop 301 went on the ballot ...

Phoenix, AZ— Prop 204, which is estimated to raise $1 billion a year in new tax money, is primarily promoted by supporters as a new revenue source for education, yet the proposition dedicates a significant amount of tax revenues to special-interest projects. The new tax guarantees $100 million annually to highway contractors, and tax revenue raised in excess of $1 billion will further fund special-interest projects. Nearly half of the almost $1 million raised to pass Prop 204 has come from highway contractors. According to today’s policy memo by economist Byron Schlomach and Education Director Jonathan Butcher, none of ...

Phoenix, AZ – Governor Jan Brewer signed late Monday HB 2622, a critical piece of legislation that will expand the state’s groundbreaking education savings account program to over 100,000 newly eligible children, effectively doubling the program’s reach. Sponsored by Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-Glendale), the legislation expands the education savings account program eligibility to three new groups: children currently enrolled in “D” and “F” schools, children of active-duty military parents, and children who have been adopted out of Arizona’s foster system or who are in the process of a finalized adoption.   Conceived of by the Goldwater Institute in ...

These accounts give parents their children’s share of school funds to use on textbooks, virtual school classes, private school tuition, or even college savings plans. Approximately 150 families participated this year.  The only program of its kind in the U.S., education savings accounts allow parents to customize their child’s education. Parents can select a variety of educational services for their child in order to create a specialized learning experience that will challenge their child and prepare them for life in the real world. Here are a few commonly asked questions and answers about education savings accounts.  What ...

When state legislatures reconvene in January, a priority for many will be passing some kind of “jobs” bill. What form that might take is open to debate, but there are already lessons to be learned on what not to do. In 2009 the Arizona legislature, like many other states, passed a bill providing “tax incentives” (AKA subsidies) for renewable-energy industries. The legislature partly responded to pressure from those who thought they’d found the next big thing in "green jobs." It also followed on the heels of a new solar panel factory in Tucson, Arizona. Now that solar panel factory ...

Glendale City Council members could use a cold splash of water – perhaps with the hockey ice from Jobing.com Arena – if they finalize a deal with potential new Phoenix Coyotes team owner Jerry Reinsdorf. Council members signed a non-binding agreement earlier this month to allow Reinsdorf to sell the team in five years if it doesn’t turn a profit. Why does that matter? Because the deal also potentially requires city taxpayers to pony up $165 million for the private sports franchise. It’s a lose-lose for taxpayers and hockey fans alike. Surprisingly, the City rejected another deal proposed by ...

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear arguments in a case brought by more than two dozen states challenging the constitutionality of the federal health care law. The core issue is whether the individual mandate to purchase government-prescribed health care is constitutional. The Court of Appeals ruled that it was unconstitutional. But other issues are before the Court as well, notably whether it is premature to decide the individual mandate before it is enforced, and whether the entire law should be struck down if the individual mandate is invalidated. The Court has granted an extraordinary five-and-one-half hours of ...